Photo courtesy Rick Bogasz

Get your mid-winter swim gear on and prepare to watch all your parts shrink and puff up as you ring in the new year by a “dash of insanity”.

For the brave of heart, here’s where to ring in no, rather take the plunge into a new decade just a little bit differently:

The Polar Bear Swim Club (in support of Habitat for Humanity) Sunnyside Park – 11:30am registration and 12:00pm dip – free blanket for all participants

Polar Bear Dip (in support of World Visions) Coronation Park, Oakville – 12:30pm-3pm – dip at 2pm sharp – the 25th anniversary of Canada’s biggest

Clarington Polar Bear Swim (in support of Sick Kids) – Newcastle Waterfront – 2pm dip – 10th anniversary – first 80 pledgers get a prize pack

If you start to like this a lot, there is a slightly insane group who likes to do this winter round too.

Forecast calls for scattered flurries and -2 degrees Celsius, although with a slight wind and few clothes on, who knows what that will really feel like.

Some smart advice ahead of time:

• Footwear you can wear in the water
• Towel(s)
• Blanket(s)
• Warm clothes to wear before and after the dip
• A friend to help should you require assistance
• A good place to shower and scrub off Lake Ontario afterwards
• if any medical condition puts you in doubt, consult a doctor or merely gawk and donate